


Sys-Zero and the Mer’a Rescue

by Tmae_Analysis (Tmae)



Series: Mechquest Analysis & Theories [3]
Category: MechQuest (Video Game)
Genre: Analysis, Gen, I'm not sure what combination of those three this strictly qualifies as, Meta, but it sure is at least two of them, theory, tumblr crosspost
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-05
Updated: 2015-11-05
Packaged: 2020-01-31 08:51:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18587890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tmae/pseuds/Tmae_Analysis
Summary: A look at Sys-Zero's actions during the Mer'a Rescue mission, their deviation from his standard characterisation, and the possible explanation for why he does what he does.





	Sys-Zero and the Mer’a Rescue

**Author's Note:**

> This is probably the theory/analysis/whatever that I'm still proudest of.

THIS THEORY/ANALYSIS POST IS LITERALLY AS LONG AS SOME OF MY LONGER FANFICS IT GOT SO OUT OF CONTROL

I am big on characterisation. Which probably everyone has noticed. And I _love_ analysing stuff and etcetera. Which probably everyone has _also_ noticed.

And there’s a certain mission in the Wormhole saga that has had a factor that really sort of bothered me for quite a while now, but I’d never managed to put my finger on why. I now _have_ managed to put my finger on it, and have written a big giant theory/analysis post (this thing is three pages long in microsoft word) about it.

Want to know what mission it is?  
It’s the Mer’a Rescue mission.

Want to know what’s been bothering me about it?  
_There’s a big giant discrepancy in Sys-Zero’s characterisation._

* * *

Sys-Zero, as we are shown multiple times over _many_ occasions in the game, is a pretty determined guy. He’s a Hero, of the kind in AE games that has a capital H. He’s a whole lot like the player character, albeit with more experience. He’s ex-SDF. He’s a Star Captain. He is _explicitly_ stated by Warlic to essentially be _a large amount of the defence line_ of Soluna City early on in the game. The Shadowscythe basically say that they could win the war with _ease_ if he was on their side.  
Sys-Zero and the crew of the Reliant fight an entire Shadowscythe Armada at the Crystal Asteroid, _and hold them off_. He faces impossible odds again and again and pretty much never gives up. This is the guy who was willing to potentially _break all of time_ to save Zargon!

But the mer’a rescue mission. The _opening mission of the wormhole saga **mer’a rescue mission**_. That thing is a _massive_ blip in his characterisation.

Because once there is a significant enough Shadowscythe presence on board that ship, once it becomes clear that most of the survivors on that ship have been captured, are maybe already assimilated, what does he do? 

Given everything we know about him, we’d expect him to ask the hero to keep going, right? Keep looking for survivors that might be hiding, find any that aren’t assimilated or aren’t fully assimilated and save them.

_But he doesn’t._

He calls the mission off. He _orders_ the hero back to the Reliant, despite protests from Char and the hero themselves.

HE. _GIVES. **UP.**_

Ludicrously quickly at that. This isn’t the Sys-Zero we know, the Hero of Soluna City who fought off the nanovirus on willpower and hope alone once Odessa arrived. It’s not the Sys-Zero we still see later – at Yokai, at GLaDERP, at _Zargon_ , again and again fighting on and taking - sometimes _insane_ \- chances to save lives.

So what happened? What’s the big difference with the mer’a rescue mission? This is a _serious_ case of Out Of Character, and OOC Is Serious Business.

Here’s what I think.

It’s the Shadowscythe. More specifically, the _physical proximity_ of them.

* * *

If you sit back and think about it, think about every single mission with Sys-Zero in it, how many times can you list where he – or someone he cares about – is in the direct physical proximity of a Shadowscythe? Not one of their mecha, not one of their remote robots, an _actual_ Shadowscythe? How many are there?

Because I’ve thought about it. I’ve poured over it. And I discovered something that I think is _very_ interesting and potentially explains the mer’a rescue mission thing. 

The hero does run into Shadowscythe and have to fight them quite often - but in terms of times that it’s happened with Sys-Zero _knowing_ it, talking to them while it happens, being there, or Sys-Zero himself encountering them, how many occasions are there?

**_Three._ **

Three occasions in the _entire game_ where Sys-Zero either directly encounters a Shadowscythe outside of a mecha or a ship, or that he is in contact with the hero when _the_ y do.

The first time is on the dropship, in the first mission where you catch the Shadowscythe stowaway. Other than finding said stowaway, nothing of particular significance occurs.

The second time is an occasion that basically every MQ fan knows. When he gets captured by them near the beginning of the Kingadent plotline, which leads to his nanovirus infection.

After that, the third time. The only time after his nanovirus infection that Sys-Zero has to face the threat of a Shadowscythe without a whole lot of space and metal between them – or, in this case, between the Shadowscythe and someone he cares about. _The mer’a rescue mission._

And when you look at it with that in mind, the fact that this is most likely the first time after his nanovirus infection that he’s facing seeing someone he cares about face a Shadowscythe directly, knowing their corrupting influence, while there’s an entire unknown quantity of another species having been assimilated, suddenly his actions on the mer’a rescue mission make _a whole lot more sense._

He knows what being assimilated is like, knows what an assimilated person is capable of. And those responsible and capable of that _are right there_ , on the ship where someone he cares about is. They’re assimilating people _as they speak_.  
Someone he cares about is potentially in danger and he’s too far away to help if anything goes wrong and the enemy are too close for comfort.

There’s something else that happens in the mer’a mission that is of incredible significance, not just Sys-Zero calling off the mission and it being the first time since the nanovirus that he is facing Shadowscythe outside their ships and mecha. This mission is, to my knowledge, the _only time in the entire game that Sys-Zero gives you a **direct order.**_

There are references to orders throughout the game, of course, but this mission is the only one where he explicitly and directly says the words “It’s an order,”

In fact, the only other time I can recall Sys-Zero referencing giving orders himself is the Zargon Part 2 finale.  
In the part where he says he can’t order you to do it.

Sys-Zero’s characterisation in the overall game gives me the impression that he isn’t the sort of person to fall back on authority to make people do things. Yes, giving orders is part of his job, but he seems to do it more through asking people to do what he needs them to do, and doesn’t try to force them into doing something that they don’t want to do.

I mean, when there’s an entire _planet_ at stake, and he’s very much in a position to give orders regarding saving it, and the entire fabric of time is at risk if things go wrong, he says he can’t order you and _asks_ you to follow him instead.

(I’ve got a whole other thing about the “I can’t order you” thing and how he _could_ but it’s a morality thing and stuff but that’s not relevant right now)

Also relevant is the wording of the order that he gives “[Character], get back here now. It’s an order,” His sentences are short, and the writing gives the impression of a sharp tone. He is _stressing_ the fact that this is an order.

_He’s not giving the hero a choice in this situation._

Which is just as out of character as giving up on the remaining mer’a and calling off the mission, in all honesty.

Which now brings us back to my main point here – Sys-Zero is acting incredibly out of character. 

But _why?_

I already mentioned the Shadowscythe thing. And his out-of-character actions make a lot of sense when you think about the circumstances happening here. So what is driving Sys-Zero’s out of character actions? What’s his motivation here?

##  _**He’s terrified.** _

_That_ is what is making Sys-Zero act the way he does in this mission. Someone he cares about is in a small, enclosed space with _Shadowscythe_ and there’s assimilation going on and he’s too far away to help.

_Calling off the mission and pulling the hero out is his panic response to that._

Tl;Dr: I overanalysed the mer’a rescue mission because Sys-Zero was out of character in it and it bothered me, and came to the conclusion that he was actually terrified for the hero in it, which is why he was so out of character.


End file.
